Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
STAR DATE: 1986. HOW ON EARTH CAN THEY SAVE THE FUTURE? Kirk travels back in time to 20th century San Francisco in search of two humpback whales to bring to the future to save Earth from destruction by an alien probe. Summary As a possibly destructive alien probe approaches Earth in the year 2286, the crew of the recently-destroyed [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)]] realizes it is attempting to contact humpback whales, which have been extinct since the 21st century. Admiral James T. Kirk decides the only way to save Earth and Starfleet is to travel back in time, acquire some whales and bring them back to the 23rd century. Kirk and his crew take their Klingon Bird-of-Prey on a time trip, landing in San Francisco in the year 1986. Kirk and his crew have difficulty adjusting to the 1980s, but their mission is ultimately successful. Background Information *Most of the shots of the humpback whales were taken using four-foot long animatronics models. Four such models were created, and were so realistic that after release of the film, US fishing authorities publicly criticized the film makers for getting too close to whales in the wild. The scenes involving these whales were shot in a high school swimming pool. A large animatronic tail was also created, for the scene on the sinking Bird-of-Prey, filmed on the Paramount car park, which was flooded for the shoot. The shot of the whales swimming past the Golden Gate Bridge was filmed on location, and nearly ended in disaster when a cable got snagged on a nuclear submarine and the whales were towed out to sea. *The shot with Chekov (Koenig) and Uhura (Nichols) asking about the location of the naval base was shot with a hidden camera and the people they were asking had no idea they were being filmed for a movie. It was done that way, according to the director, for "realism". The woman speaking in the scene had to be inducted into the Actors' Guild, in order for the lines to be kept. *The character of Dr. Taylor was originally a male character and, for added humor to the lighthearted script, actor Eddie Murphy was offered the role, but he decided on "The Golden Child" instead (a decision he admits later was a big mistake), and Catherine Hicks won the role. *Madge Sinclair's character as the captain of the Saratoga was the first female captain shown in Star Trek. *The mysterious "speech" of the probe was real whale song. *The whale hunters speak Finnish. One shot shows the look-out in the mast shouting "Siellä ne puhaltaa!" (roughly translated as "There they blow!). The older man (captain?) also comments "Valaita näkyvissä!" ("Whales in sight!") However, Finnish-flagged ships have never hunted whales. Norwegians would have been a better choice. (However, there is nothing to prevent Finns from serving on a foreign-flagged whaler.) *The first draft of the film was named "Undiscovered Country," a title later used for Star Trek VI. *Early drafts of the script had Saavik remaining on Vulcan due to her being pregnant with Spock's child, following the events of the previous movie. *Kirk Thatcher was a special-effects crewmember in Star Trek III. In "Voyage Home", he was associate producer, provided the computer voice for Spock's test computer (along with the touch-sensitive controls), and not only played the legendary Punk on the bus but he also penned the song "I Hate You" heard on the punk's boom box. *The lighted table in Starfleet Command eventually became the famous "pool table" located in main engineering of USS Enterprise-D. *This marks Majel Barrett's final performance as Nurse/Doctor Christine Chapel. *Most of the outer space Klingon Bird-of-Prey footage (except the time warp) is reused from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Links and References Cast *William Shatner as Kirk *Leonard Nimoy as Spock *DeForest Kelley as McCoy *James Doohan as Scotty *George Takei as Sulu *Walter Koenig as Chekov *Nichelle Nichols as Uhura *Jane Wyatt as Amanda *Catherine Hicks as Gillian *Mark Lenard as Sarek *Robin Curtis as Lt. Saavik *Robert Ellenstein as Federation Council President *John Schuck as Klingon Ambassador Starfleet Personnel *Brock Peters as Admrial Cartwright *Michael Snyder as Starfleet communications officer *Michael Berryman as Starfleet display officer *Mike Brislane as ''Saratoga'' science officer *Grace Lee Whitney as Commander Rand *Jane Wiedlin as Trillya (Alien Communications Officer) *Vijay Amritraj as Joel Randolph (Starship Captain) *Majel Barrett as Commander Chapel *Nick Ramus as Saratoga helmsman *Thaddeus Golas as Controller #1 *Martin Pistone as Controller #2 In Old San Francisco *Scott DeVenney as Bob Briggs *Viola Stimpson as Lady in Tour (Unnamed humans) *Phil Rubenstein as 1st Garbageman (Unnamed humans) *John Miranda as 2nd Garbageman (Unnamed humans) *Joe Knowland as Antique Store Owner (Unnamed humans) *Bob Sarlatte as Waiter (Unnamed humans) *Everett Lee as Cafe Owner (Unnamed humans) *Richard Harder as Joe *Alex Henteloff as Nichols *Tony Edwards as Pilot (Unnamed humans) *Eve Smith as Elderly Patient (Unnamed humans) *Tom Mustin as Intern #1 (Unnamed humans) *Greg Karas as Intern #2 (Unnamed humans) *Raymond Singer as Young Doctor (Unnamed humans) *David Ellenstein as Doctor #1 (Unnamed humans) *Judy Levitt as Doctor #2 (Unnamed humans) *Teresa E. Victor as Usher (Unnamed humans) *James Menges as the Jogger (Unnamed humans) *Kirk Thatcher as Punk on Bus (Unnamed humans) Naval Personnel *Jeff Lester as FBI Agent (Unnamed humans) *Joe Lando as Shore Patrolman (Unnamed humans) *Newell Tarrant as Rogerson (CDO) *Mike Timoney as Electronics Technician (Unnamed humans) *Jeffrey Martin as Electronics Technician (Unnamed humans) *1st Sgt. Joseph Naradzay, USMC as Marine Sergeant (Unnamed humans) *1st Lt. Donald W. Zautcke, USMC as Marine Lieutenant (Unnamed humans) Stunts *John Meier as Stunt Double for William Shatner (Kirk) *Gregory Barnett as Stunt Double for Leonard Nimoy (Spock) Uncredited *Madge Sinclair as the Saratoga Captain *Stephen Liska as Torg (archived footage) *Monique DeSart as Madelaine *Joseph Adamson as Doctor #3 (Unnamed humans) References Alameda; Alaska; Andorians; borite; ''Bounty'', HMS; Cetacean; Cetacean Institute; Clampett; Cloaking device; colorful metaphors; ''Copernicus'', USS; cramps; dilithium; Earth Spacedock; Edinburgh; ''Enterprise'' (CVN-65), USS; ''Enterprise'', USS; ''Enterprise''-A, USS; ''Excelsior'', USS; Federation Council; gadolinium; George; Golden Gate Park; Gottlieb; Gracie; Gregory; Hamlet; Humpback whales; "I Hate You"; ''Intrepid'', USS; Iowa; Juneau; Kiri-kin-tha; Kiri-kin-tha's First Law of Metaphysics; Klendeth; Klingon Empire; Klingon mummification glyph; Leningrad; Locnaerian; Macintosh; Michelob; Nuclear fission; pizza; Plexicorp; Robbins, Harold; Saloon, The; Sam; San Francisco; ''Saratoga'', USS; Sausalito; science vessel; ''Shepard'', USS; Shuttlepod; Slingshot effect; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Headquarters; Susann, Jacqueline; Tellarites; Tokyo; T'Plana-Hath; United Federation of Planets; Universal atmospheric element compensator; Vulcan; Vulcans; Weintraub; Whale Probe; Whale song; Winchell's Donut House; ''Yorktown'', USS; Zaranites Additional References Arcadians; Ariolo; Arkenites; Bzzit Khaht; Caitians; Efrosians; Kasheeta; Xelatians. Related Topics Alternate timeline; USS Saratoga personnel; Money; Riverside; Smoking; Starfleet ranks; Time travel; United States armed forces. External Links * A walkthrough of Star Trek IV, filming locations. Voyage Home, The de:Star Trek IV: Zurück in die Gegenwart nl:Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home sv:Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home